Felix Chevrolet OLDEST DEALERSHIP IN LA AND ITS FAMOUS CAT MASCOT By Catherine York, Communications Manager, NADA The unlikeliest of auto mascots, a cartoon cat from the early 20th century, has made the oldest automotive dealership in Los Angeles famous. Felix the Cat and Felix Chevrolet joined forces over a century ago in a stroke of cross-marketing genius. Winslow Felix (owner, 1921‑1936) Auto dealer Winslow Felix found creative ways to innovate from the start. He used his social connections to his advantage, including his agreement with the creator of Felix the Cat, a popular character in the “funny papers.” The dealer became close friends with the cartoon’s creator, Pat Sullivan, through his active civic life and struck a deal to cross-market their brands. (Sullivan and his friends also received deals on their Chevrolets.) According to a 1925 Los Angeles Times article, “Probably no other motor-car dealer in Los Angeles is so well known through the state at large than is Winslow Felix.” Born to a large Mexican-American family in the Arizona territory, Felix moved to Los Angeles at 19 and started working at car dealerships. About a decade later, General Motors appointed 30-year-old Felix as a Chevrolet franchised dealer. Felix instituted processes to go above and beyond in customer service: • Porters drove three-wheeled motorcycles (branded with Felix the Cat) to deliver new cars and bring vehicles in for service. • Felix assigned an employee to call every new-vehicle owner to ask about that person’s purchase experience (this was well before the standard practice of measuring consumer satisfaction). Ruth Felix (owner, 1936-1955) In 1936, Felix, at the age of 45, died in a polo accident. Without a will, his estate, including Felix Chevrolet, passed to his wife, Ruth Felix. Not much is known about her tenure except that she owned the dealership for nearly two decades before selling it to Nickolas Shammas in 1955. Nickolas Shammas (owner, 1955-2003) Like Winslow Felix, Shammas’ career had humble beginnings. During his childhood, Shammas spent five years in the Los Angeles foster care system. 39 California New Car Dealer Quarterly
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